The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hibiscus, botanically known as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Scarlet Loke’.
The new Hibiscus is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new freely-branching Hibiscus cultivars with a dense, uniform and compact plant habit appropriate for container production, early and uniform flowering, numerous flowers per lateral branch, desirable flower color and good garden performance.
The new Hibiscus originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Alva, Fla. in 1994, of a proprietary selection of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis identified as code number YB-602, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Island Fire’, disclosed in U.S. Plan Pat. No. 7,378, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Hibiscus was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Alva, Fla. on Sep. 5, 1995.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hibiscus by vegetative terminal cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Alva, Fla. since February, 1996, has shown that the unique features of this new Hibiscus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.